You cannot change or save Screen Saver settings

Problem description

When you change settings on the Screen Saver Settings window, the new settings are not saved. This article helps you fix the problem.

To have us fix this problem for you, go to the “Fix it for me” section. If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the “Let me fix it myself” section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.

Note This wizard is temporarily in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.



Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Now go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in WindowsSeveral registry settings must be changed to fix this problem. To modify the registry settings, follow these steps.

1. Open Notepad.

2. Copy and paste the following text into Notepad, maintaining all blank lines, including a final blank line:
   
   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
   
   
   
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
   "ScreenSaverIsSecure"="0"
   
   "ScreenSaveTimeOut"="600"
   
   "ScreenSaveActive"="1"
   
   
   
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop]
   "ScreenSaveActive"=dword:00000001
   
   "SCRNSAVE.EXE"=-
   
   
   
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\LocalUser\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop]
   "ScreenSaveActive"="1"
   
   
   
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
   "NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000
   
   
   
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\LocalUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
   
   "NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000
   
   
   
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\LocalUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
   
   "**del.NoSaveSettings"=-
   
   
   
   

3. Save the file as a .reg file on your desktop. For example, save the file as screen-saver-fix.reg.

4. Double-click the file name to run it.

Now go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Did this fix the problem?

The resolution resets the Screen Saver settings to the default values. After the values are reset, you should be able to change and save the settings.

• Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support.

• Visit the Fix it for me blog, or send us e-mail to provide feedback or to report any issues with this solution.
  
  

More information

For more information about using a .reg file, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

310516 How to add, modify, or delete registry subkeys and values by using a registration entries (.reg) file